Complementary Resources, Web-Based Applications, and the Development of Web-Enabled Supply Chain

Author(s):  
Yootaek Lee ◽  
Jay Kim ◽  
Jeffery G. Miller

The purpose of this chapter is to enhance our understanding of how web-based applications and complementary resources can work together to create competitive advantages in supply chains. This chapter is organized as follows. First, this chapter introduces the theoretical background of complementary resources. Then, it moves on to report a preliminary result of secondary data analysis that explores the role of complementary resources to the development of web-enabled supply chains. Lastly, this chapter reports a case study that focuses on identifying: 1) the complementary resources that influence the successful implementation of web-based applications for supply chain management, and 2) the degree to which certain types of complementary resources function to support the successful implementation of web-based applications.

2010 ◽  
pp. 1201-1214
Author(s):  
Yootaek Lee ◽  
Jay Kim ◽  
Jeffery G. Miller

This study focuses on identifying (a) the complementary resources that influence the successful implementation of Web-based applications for supply chain management, and (b) the degree to which certain types of complementary resources function to support the successful implementation of Web-based applications. An exploratory case study is employed to identify potential complementary resources that are required for the successful implementation of Web-based applications that support various portions of the supply chain management task. The utility of a potential complementary resource to each Web-based application for a supply chain task is evaluated to determine the relative value of the resource to the Webbased application. A matrix is then developed to show the degree to which a particular complementary resource is utilized to implement Web-based applications. The contribution of this study is to enhance our understanding of how Web-based applications and complementary resources can work together to create competitive advantages in supply chains.


2018 ◽  
Vol 38 (12) ◽  
pp. 2389-2412 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hugo K.S. Lam

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to theoretically hypothesise and empirically test the impact of sustainable supply chain practices (SSCPs) on firms’ financial risk. Design/methodology/approach This research adopts signalling theory to explain the signalling role of SSCPs and the moderating role of the signalling environment in terms of supply chain characteristics. It collects and combines longitudinal secondary data from multiple sources to test the direct impact of SSCPs on firms’ financial risk and the moderating role of supply chain complexity and efficiency. It conducts various additional tests to check the robustness of the findings and to account for alternative explanations. Findings This research shows that SSCPs help firms reduce financial risk but do not affect their returns. Moreover, the risk reduction of SSCPs is greater for firms with more complex and efficient supply chains. The findings are robust to alternative variable measurements and analysing strategies. Research limitations/implications This research reveals the role of SSCPs in reducing financial risk, urging researchers to pay more attention to the financial risk implications of supply chain practices in general and SSCPs in particular. Practical implications This research encourages firms to engage in SSCPs to reduce financial risk and enables them to assess the urgency of their SSCPs investments in view of the complexity and efficiency of their supply chains. Originality/value This is the first research examining the impact of SSCPs on financial risk, based on longitudinal secondary data and signalling theory. The empirical evidence documented and the theoretical perspective adopted offer important implications for future practice and research on SSCPs.


Author(s):  
Yoo-Taek Lee ◽  
Sung-Yong Ryu ◽  
Kathleen E. McKone-Sweet

E-supply chains (e-SCs), which are Internet-enabled supply chains, are progressively being implemented by companies to improve their operational and financial performance. Several studies exist where the association between the development of an e-supply chain and the performance of a firm have been investigated. However, there is a paucity of literature that describes how information technology (IT) resources interact with other complementary resources to e-supply chains that positively impact a firm’s performance. This paper seeks to adopt a resource-based view of the firm (RBVF) and empirically tests a framework that identifies and validates the relationships among IT resources, complementary resources to e-supply chains, and performance of a firm. This study utilizes secondary data from two sources – data collected by the South Korean Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy (MOCIE) and financial data from the Korea Exchange. The data from a total of 170 firms representing 10 industries in South Korea was analyzed using a partial least-squares technique (PLS). The results of the analysis confirm that IT resources do not directly influence supply chain performance. However, when associated with a complementary resource, IT resources positively affect both supply chain operations and a firm’s financial performance. The findings of this research support the current existing literature on the RBVF approach with regard to the domain of supply chain management, and can provide additional insights to industry practitioners on how to effectively utilize complementary resources in developing e-SCs to deliver improved performance.


2014 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 38-53
Author(s):  
João Batista de Camargo Junior ◽  
Valdir Antonio Vitorino Filho ◽  
Silvio Roberto Ignacio Pires ◽  
Mário Sacomano Neto

As supply chain management research and its adoption advance, new challenges are imposed for researchers and managers. Accordingly, the supply chain risk management (SCRM) has been a prominent field because it suggests strategies and action plans to mitigate these risks. On the other hand, it is observed that the coopetition concept advocates that two competing organizations can work together in some activities in the form of a strategic alliance, contributing to achieve maximum efficiency. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to propose the extension of this concept into the activities of SCRM, treating coopetition as an action that can be added to the risk management efforts in order to make supply chains more resilient. Thus, through an exploratory literature search that uses secondary data, we drawn two propositions that deal with the possibility of adding a coopetitor to reduce risks in supply chains and on the feasibility of balanced coopetition changes the profile of a supply chain to a resilient model. Although these propositions require further empirical verification, it is believed that this is a good start for discussions about the benefits and competitive advantages that the adoption of coopetition in risk management activities in supply chains can bring to organizations.


Author(s):  
Valentina Carbone ◽  
Valérie Moatti ◽  
Tobias Schoenherr ◽  
Srinagesh Gavirneni

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate to what extent dynamic capabilities (DCs) developed in the field of green supply chain management can foster social supply chain performance. In addition, the role of both human and stakeholder capital in enhancing this relationship is investigated. Design/methodology/approach Relying on the theoretical framework of the resource-based view, complemented with the DCs perspective, the authors hypothesize about the benefits of a firm’s environmental management capability for its social supply chain performance, as well as the moderating role of both human and stakeholder capital. Our contentions are tested through a multi-year database of socially responsible investments covering 1,177 multinational corporations. Findings The findings show that companies can sustain positive and superior social performance in their supply chain by leveraging DCs developed in the environmental field. This impact is further shown to be elevated in the presence of both human and stakeholder capital. Research limitations/implications This study represents a snapshot of the transformation process from environmentally to socially responsible supply chains. While the secondary data employed offers unique advantages, secondary data also have limitations. Social implications Developing environmental capabilities not only enhances companies’ profitability, but can also lead to better supply chains through improved labor conditions and well-being. Originality/value The authors’ shift from a company-centric to a sustainability-centric conceptualization of DCs can open up new opportunities to engage research, potentially leading to high-impact results in the field of sustainable supply chain management. In addition, the authors leverage a secondary data source not frequently utilized in prior work.


2011 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Roxanne Piderit ◽  
Stephen Flowerday ◽  
Rossouw Von Solms

Background: The significant economic importance of the country’s automotive industry provided the context for this study. The success of the industry relies on the effectiveness and efficiency of the supply chain, which can be significantly affected by the strength of the supply chain relationships. The role of trust and information sharing in relation to two key theories was considered, namely: organisational information processing theory and game theory. Previous studies have recognised the importance of trust and information sharing in supply chain relationships and considered the effect of trust on information sharing, or the effect of information sharing on trust in a single direction. Thus, the potential cyclical relationship between the two factors has been largely ignored.Objectives: This paper explored the relationship between trust and information sharing in South African automotive supply chains, and establishes the importance of nurturing a cyclical relationship between these two factors. In addition, the role of information technology (IT) in supporting this relationship was considered. By improving both trust and information sharing, the performance and competitiveness of the supply chain can be improved.Method: An examination of the effects of a lack of trust in a supply chain relationship, and the consequential lack of information flow, was conducted by means of a case study of an Eastern Cape-based automotive supplier. A case study research method was followed for this study, which made use of multiple data collection methods, including document survey and participant observations. The case selected is an East London based subsidiary of a larger multinational automotive component supplier to both local and international automotive original equipment manufacturers.Results: The findings led to the conclusion that the way forward for competitive supply chains is to build trust in the supply chain in order to improve information flow, and vice versa. Information technology can be used to nurture this cyclical relationship between trust and information sharing.Conclusion: It is proposed that simultaneously improving information flow and trust in an interorganisational relationship leads to improved supply chain performance and competitiveness.


2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Job A.C. De Haan ◽  
Macarena Sacristán-Díaz

<p class="Abstract">Supply chains lack their own across-the-board managers that can design and implement a performance measurement system (PMS), nor do they have an explicit overall strategy from which the PMS can be derived. The focus of this article is to develop a qualitative theoretical model on PM in supply chains to explore how to adopt PMS as a tool to implement collaboration and integration in chains. The exploratory nature of the research question determined our use of a multiple case study. Two focal firms in the agro-food sector from Spain and the Netherlands, serving a total of five different chains, illustrate the message of the model.</p>The findings show when an attempt to implement a PMS at the supply chain level might be appropriate and effective (if a chain exists and has a director), and how the system’s content should be focused on what is needed to improve chain performance (with end customers’ demands as a starting point). The paper highlights the benefits obtained by the other partners if they comply with the best informed supply chain member in the development of the chain’s PMS, as well as how a PMS cannot be developed when none of the partners can be labelled as chain director.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sachin Modgil ◽  
Shivam Gupta ◽  
Rébecca Stekelorum ◽  
Issam Laguir

PurposeCOVID-19 has pushed many supply chains to re-think and strengthen their resilience and how it can help organisations survive in difficult times. Considering the availability of data and the huge number of supply chains that had their weak links exposed during COVID-19, the objective of the study is to employ artificial intelligence to develop supply chain resilience to withstand extreme disruptions such as COVID-19.Design/methodology/approachWe adopted a qualitative approach for interviewing respondents using a semi-structured interview schedule through the lens of organisational information processing theory. A total of 31 respondents from the supply chain and information systems field shared their views on employing artificial intelligence (AI) for supply chain resilience during COVID-19. We used a process of open, axial and selective coding to extract interrelated themes and proposals that resulted in the establishment of our framework.FindingsAn AI-facilitated supply chain helps systematically develop resilience in its structure and network. Resilient supply chains in dynamic settings and during extreme disruption scenarios are capable of recognising (sensing risks, degree of localisation, failure modes and data trends), analysing (what-if scenarios, realistic customer demand, stress test simulation and constraints), reconfiguring (automation, re-alignment of a network, tracking effort, physical security threats and control) and activating (establishing operating rules, contingency management, managing demand volatility and mitigating supply chain shock) operations quickly.Research limitations/implicationsAs the present research was conducted through semi-structured qualitative interviews to understand the role of AI in supply chain resilience during COVID-19, the respondents may have an inclination towards a specific role of AI due to their limited exposure.Practical implicationsSupply chain managers can utilise data to embed the required degree of resilience in their supply chains by considering the proposed framework elements and phases.Originality/valueThe present research contributes a framework that presents a four-phased, structured and systematic platform considering the required information processing capabilities to recognise, analyse, reconfigure and activate phases to ensure supply chain resilience.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina Öberg

Purpose Additive manufacturing has been described as converting supply chains into demand chains. By focusing on metal additive manufacturing as a contemporary technology causing ongoing disruption to the supply chain, the purpose of this paper is to describe and discuss how incumbent firms act during an ongoing, transformational disruption of their supply chain. Design/methodology/approach Interviews and secondary data, along with seminars attracting approximately 600 individuals operating in metal additive manufacturing, form the empirical basis for this paper. Findings The findings of this paper indicate how disruption occurs at multiple positions in the supply chain. Episodic positions as conceptualised in this paper refer to how parties challenged by disruption attempt to reach normality while speeding the transformational disruption. Originality/value This paper contributes to previous research by theorising about episodic positions in light of a supply chain disruption. The empirical data are unique in how they capture supply chain change at the time of disruption and illustrate disruptive, transformational change to supply chains. The paper interlinks research on disruption from the innovation and supply chain literature, with contributions to both.


Author(s):  
Antonina Tsvetkova ◽  
Britta Gammelgaard

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore how supply chain strategies emerge and evolve in response to contextual influence.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative single-case study presents the journey of a supply chain strategy, conceptualised as the idea of transport independence in the Russian Arctic context. Data from 18 semi-structured interviews, personal observations and archival materials are interpreted through the institutional concepts of translation and editing effects.FindingsThe study reveals how supply chain strategies evolve over time and can affect institutional factors. The case study further reveals how contextual conditions make a company reconsider its core competencies as well as the role of supply chain management practices. The findings show that strategy implementation through purposeful actions can represent a powerful resistance to contextual pressures and constraints, as well as being a facilitator of change in actual supply chains and their context. During the translation of the idea of transport independence into actions, the supply chain strategy transformed itself into a form of strategic collaboration and thereby made supply chains in the Russian Arctic more integrated than before.Research limitations/implicationsMore empirical studies on strategy implementation in interaction with contextual and institutional factors are suggested. An institutional process perspective is applied in this study but the authors suggest that future research should include a human dimension by an exploration of day-to-day routines and challenges that employees face when strategising and the actions they take.Originality/valueThe study provides an understanding of how a new supply chain strategy emerges and how it changes during implementation. In this process-oriented study – merging context, process and strategy content – it is further shown that a supply chain strategy may affect the context by responding to contextual and institutional challenges.


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